The Best Laid Plans
by jbn42
Summary: Rey gets a lot of unwanted pressure about the wedding plans, and Poe gets to protect her for once.


**Author's Note: Wedding longish one-shot. Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! Defining Balance is still very much underway, but I know folks wanted to see this and to see how Poe managed to piss off Connix. I somehow managed to angst this up a bit, but it's definitely not all angst.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Poe is in the hangar working on a new mod on Black One when he feels a wave of anxiety from deep within their current base. The emotion makes him freeze, failing to take the wrench BB-8 is trying to hand him. After a moment, the little astromech beeps out a question, and Poe shakes his head, trying to clear it. He focuses his thoughts on Rey, and he knows she can feel him mentally looking for her, as she shoots a pleading request to meet her at the door to the outside.

He waves away the wrench and tells BB-8 to stay, but the droid clearly knows something is wrong, as he emits an indignant beep, drops the wrench, and follows close behind Poe. When he gets to the door, she's waiting for him. He frowns, though, when he notices that she's essentially hiding in the shadows. "Beautiful, what is going on?"

She jumps at the sound of his voice, worrying him even more, because that means she didn't even feel him approaching. It's especially troubling because he purposefully has his mind open to her. "Rey, are you all right?"

She shakes her head and drags him outside. He tells BB-8 to wait for real this time, and Rey blinks and says, "BB-8, can you call me or Poe if someone follows us?"

BB-8 beeps out an affirmative, and Poe opens the door for her. She grabs his hand tight in hers, and they head out into the warm, late-afternoon air on this moon, their latest temporary home. Once they're well into one of the fields that flanks their underground base, he stops her. "Beautiful, talk to me."

She turns to face him, and she sighs. "It's stupid, Poe. I'm being ridiculous."

He furrows his brow. "What's stupid?"

"How I'm behaving." She looks down at the grass that surrounds them.

"Rey, you have to give me more than that. I have no idea what you are talking about." He squeezes her hand tight in his.

"The wedding. I'm being ridiculous about the wedding." She sighs again.

"How so?" He is honestly confused about all of this. Rey sinks to the ground in a cross-legged position, and he sits next to her, legs stretched out in front of him, both of them now hidden by the tall grass. She blinks, and he's surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Beautiful, you're scaring me."

She sniffles. "I don't want to wear a dress. I don't want flowers or fancy ceremony. It isn't me. People already spend half their time staring at me. I don't want…"

Poe grabs one of her hands. "Stop, Rey. Let me ask you the one question that matters in this. What do you want? Not what do you not want, but what do you want?"

"To marry you. To have Leia marry us, to have Dad and Chewie there, to have Finn and Rose stand with us. That's all. That's all that I want." She entwines her fingers with his. "But Flyboy, what you want matters, too." She looks up at him. "What do you want?"

"I want for you to be happy. The level of anxiety I felt from you earlier was off the charts. I don't ever want you to feel like that." He cups her cheek with his free hand.

She smiles. "That's sweet, but Poe, I do want to know what you want. Do you want the fancy ceremony and clothes and all that?"

"No!" He shakes his head vehemently. When she looks surprised, he notes wryly, "Wow, we're really not reading each other well today, are we? How about I drop any boundaries I have, and you do the same?"

She nods sheepishly, and they both take a moment to make themselves completely open. When she realizes that he was being almost completely honest, she relaxes a little. But one thing jumps out at her. "You want a party."

He rubs the back of his neck with one hand. "I don't have many friends and colleagues left. I want to celebrate this with them, with the people here on the base. Just a party, Beautiful. It doesn't have to be fancy or dressy. Just friends having some possibly smuggled Corellian Rum and whatever food we can manage. Maybe some music. I really would like to dance with you."

She frowns slightly and quietly says, "I don't know how to dance."

He leans over and kisses her gently. "I can teach you. It's nice. I promise. And I've seen you with a lightsaber, Beautiful. You can dance. You just need a partner."

She nods. She's nervous at the thought, but she trusts him, too. "All right. The wedding the way I want it, a not-too-fancy party after. I can handle that."

He looks at her intently. "Are you sure? I will not push you into anything you don't want."

"I am." She nods and smiles, but her smile fades a moment later.

He reads her thoughts easily. "I'll handle Connix and Rose. You know Rose is just excited, but Connix can be awfully opinionated. I'll try to talk to Rose first. She'll understand and maybe help me with Connix."

"What about the general? Won't she be disappointed?" Rey frowns. She has no desire to let Leia down, which they already kind of did by not allowing their wedding to become a diplomatic or recruiting ploy.

"No, Rey. She won't. She cares about both of us. She just wants us to be happy. I promise." He squeezes her hand.

"Do we have to wait a long time? Connix was going on and on about an engagement period and planning and months. I don't want to wait months." Rey looks at him, her expression a blend of confusion and worry.

"If it's what you want, I'll marry you tomorrow, Rey. But maybe we can take a few days to plan the party," he muses, "Most couples probably do plan for months, but that seems ridiculous to me in our case. And honestly, how the hells would you know that beforehand?"

She nods in agreement. "I'm fine with taking a few days, of course. And you really don't care if I don't want to wear a dress? I can wear my normal clothes?"

"Beautiful, you can wear one of my old flight suits, if that's what makes you happy." The sincerity behind his words nearly rolls off of him in waves, and she sighs with relief.

She leans into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. He reaches into the grass and comes back with a small yellow flower, which he hands to her. He presses a kiss to the top of her head and murmurs, "That seems more like you than anything I think Connix might have in mind."

She smiles, nuzzling her face into his neck. "I love it. I may even dry it and carry it in my belt. A subversive, secret flower. Don't tell on me."

He chuckles. "How perfectly us, and your secret's safe with me."

She seems uninterested in moving, and she confirms that a moment later, asking, "Can we just hide here for a while?"

He laughs again and presses another kiss to the top of her head. "As long as you want to, Beautiful."

A few hours later, after they sat quietly for a while before moving on to doing things that likely frightened the local fauna, they slip back into the base under shadows of dusk. He calls BB-8 to confirm that the coast is clear, so when they walk in a few minutes later, Poe is mostly unsurprised to find Kes waiting for them at the door with BB-8 at his feet. His dad frowns slightly, looking at Rey. "Are you all right, Little Jedi?"

She blinks in surprise, and Poe asks, "What did you hear, Dad?"

Kes is quick to explain. "I heard Rose and that Lieutenant Connix woman complaining that they couldn't find you, Little Jedi. Well, to be fair, Connix was complaining. Rose looked, in a word, thoughtful."

They head towards Poe and Rey's quarters, BB-8 close behind. "They're making her crazy about the wedding, Dad, insisting on things we don't want." When they get to Poe and Rey's door, Poe stops and presses a kiss to Rey's forehead. "Stay here, Beautiful. BB-8 will keep an eye on the door." He turns to Kes who is frowning and whose demeanor has gone protective. "Dad, can you go get some food and bring it here? If you haven't eaten, just bring enough for all of us, all right?"

Kes nods. He also leans down and presses a kiss to Rey's forehead before hugging her tight to him. "We'll take care of this, Little Jedi."

Rey nods into his shoulder, once again amazed at how wonderful it feels to have Kes in her life. "Thanks, Dad." She pulls back and looks at Poe. "Be nice, Flyboy. They didn't mean any harm."

"No promises." He's glowering now, fairly annoyed by Kes's statement that Connix was complaining. He cares about the woman, Leia's shadow and a friend of his, but he won't put up with her pushing Rey.

"I mean it, Poe." She gives him a stern look.

He nods and runs a hand through his hair. "I'll try to be nice about it. That's the best I can do."

She pings him a mental thank you and presses a kiss to his cheek. Then she gives them both a wave and slips into the room, closing the door behind her. Poe pats BB-8 on the head. "Stay here and look out for her, buddy. Call me if anyone tries to bother Rey except Finn." Abandoning his plan to talk to Rose first, Poe turns and heads for command, as he guesses that's where Connix is.

Kes follows close behind him. "Kid, stop a minute." Poe complies, turning to look at his dad. After a moment, Kes says, "You're really riled up about this." There's no accusation in the words, more a question.

"Dad, I was working on Black One, and I literally felt a wave of pure anxiety all the way across the base. When she told me what was going on, she was in tears. They were insisting on all this stuff she doesn't want, and honestly, she doesn't understand it all. She has no context for it, knowledge of it. She hates all the attention she already gets. This would make it worse." Poe rubs at his eyes. "She's afraid of letting Leia down, and the pushing from Connix and Rose amplified that."

"I'm so sorry!" Poe and Kes turn in surprise at the voice. Poe frowns slightly when he sees that it's Rose. She's gone slightly pale, and she looks horrified. "Oh, Poe, I am so sorry. I didn't know she was upset. I just thought it would be fun to have a big wedding, to celebrate. I never meant to push her into something she didn't want. You know I'd never do anything to purposefully upset her."

Some of the tension slips away from him. "I know, Rose. But did you two tell her what she was going to have, or did you ask her what she wanted?"

Rose has the grace to look embarrassed. "I think we told her. We just got so caught up in it. I really am sorry, Poe. I'd never do anything to hurt Rey. Outside of Finn, she's my best friend." She looks down at the floor and then meekly looks back up. "Is it all right if I go talk to her? I owe her an apology."

Poe hesitates briefly, and then he reaches out to Rey with his mind. After he tells her about Rose's reaction, he asks if Rose can come see her. A moment later, he nods, turning back to Rose. She looks somewhat amused at what must have been prolonged silence. Kes doesn't react, as he's simply gotten used to it. Poe shrugs and says, "She said it's fine to come see her. But Rose, outside of your apology, nothing about the wedding unless she brings it up. We know what we're doing. There's nothing much to plan."

She nods. "Of course," she hesitates for a moment, then gives him a small smile. "Can I at least come to the wedding?"

He can tell that she's trying to tease him a little, trying to settle things back to normal, and he finds that he appreciates it. Rose is goodness personified, and her light is pretty hard to push away. He smirks and reaches out, mussing her hair as he would if she was his little sister. "Pretty sure you'd sneak in if I said no."

Rose's smile blooms wider, and he's surprised by the relief he feels from her. This Force stuff still catches him off guard now and then. Without warning, Rose surges forward and hugs Poe tight before releasing him and heading towards his and Rey's quarters. Kes chuckles as he watches Rose scurry off. "You know, for years, I only had one kid. Suddenly, it's like I have four. Your mother would be amused."

Poe laughs too, knowing that he means the addition of Rose, Finn, and Rey. He grows serious again. "I'm going to talk to Connix."

Kes nods. He's glad they ran into Rose, because he can tell that talking to her ratcheted Poe's anger down at least incrementally. "All right, kid. I'll go get some food. Party in your room, right?"

Poe gives his dad a tight smile. "Maybe round up Finn and get enough for all your kids."

"You got it." Kes reaches over and squeezes Poe's shoulder. "Poe?" When Poe meets his eyes, Kes says, "I know you're mad at her; I am too. Just keep it under control. She's exercising poor judgement, but she's not the enemy, you know?"

Poe huffs, but he concedes the point. "I know. But I also know that when I walk away from her, she's going to know better. I won't let anyone bully Rey, even if they didn't actually do it on purpose."

"That's fair. I'll see you soon, kid." Kes gives him a nod and one more steadying squeeze to the shoulder before heading off to find Finn and get some food for them all.

When Poe gets to command, he sees Connix back near Leia's desk, holding a data pad while she talks to the general. Poe heads straight for them. He sees when Connix notices him, as a cross expression comes to her face, and she moves to meet him. "Commander, where did Rey go? We need to talk about the wed…"

He doesn't let her finish. "No, you don't."

Connix blinks at his tone, and Leia looks puzzled. Connix isn't to be deterred, though. "Commander, if we want to do this soon, there is a lot to do. I made a list." She holds up the data pad.

Poe stalks up to her and takes the data pad. He sees a screen pulled up called "Wedding." Without even reading any further, he deletes the entry. He passes the data pad back to Connix, and he holds up a hand when she begins to protest. "Lieutenant, while I appreciate your dedication and involvement in most things, it is not needed here. Rey and I know what we want. The planning will entail hooking up a music system, finding some booze, and trying to convince the mess to make a cake. That's it."

"What? No, it needs to be more than that! That's not acceptable. Rey needs a dress, there needs to be flowers…"

He cuts her off again. "Maybe I wasn't clear, Lieutenant. We do not need help. Rey has no interest in a dress or fancy flowers. She doesn't want it. She wants a simple ceremony with the general, Chewbacca, Finn, Rose, my dad, and the two of us, and then we're throwing a party for the base. Food, music, booze if we can find some. That's it. Nothing elaborate, nothing fancy. She does not want it, and neither do I."

"No! We need…"

This time, it's Leia who intervenes. "Stand down, Lieutenant." Her voice is stern, brooking no arguments. "Kaydel, it's their wedding. They get to decide. I am with the Commander on this. You will leave our resident Jedi and Commander Dameron alone." The lieutenant blinks, clearly wanting to argue more, but Poe can also see defeat in her expression. Leia adds, "Dismissed, Lieutenant. Take a break until tomorrow morning, and steer clear of the commander and Rey. That's an order."

The young woman nods, but she shoots a dirty look at Poe as she leaves. He rolls his eyes before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Thank you, General."

"No problem, Commander. You know Connix. She's a little stubborn once she gets an idea in her head." Leia cocks an eyebrow at him. "Sound like anyone I know?"

He chuckles. "Dirty shot, Leia."

"I'm fairly sure that I've survived this long thanks to dirty shots." She smirks.

"Yes ma'am." He grins.

Leia crosses her arms across her chest. "So, what exactly happened?"

Poe's grin fades. "Connix and Rose were pushing Rey. They were demanding that she wear a fancy dress, have flowers everywhere, have an elaborate ceremony, all of that." He shakes his head. "She was terrified, Leia. She doesn't want any of that. Think about her life until now. She's completely uncomfortable with the attention she already gets. She is so private, and she likes things simple."

"And what about you, Poe? You're no stranger to the attention. I'd venture to say that you like it." She places a hand on his arm.

He shakes his head. "I'm used to it, but it's never been my motivation, Leia, you know that. I guess I always wanted to be a hero, but only because I thought that meant I was helping people. I never did it for the attention." He frowns, and his voice drops. "And honestly, most of my friends are dead. A huge wedding wouldn't feel right the way things are now. We can celebrate but still show respect for those who are gone, Leia."

"You're sure?" Her brow furrows, and she squeezes his arm.

He reaches up and covers her hand with his. "I am. And it makes her happy. Even if that were the only reason I was all right with it, it would be more than enough." He appreciates Leia's concern, but it's unnecessary.

She nods, a soft look on her face. "Your mother would be almost ridiculously proud of you, Poe. I am, too, for what it's worth."

"It's worth more than you know, General."

Four days later, Poe leads Rey onto the area they cleared in the hangar for dancing. She's dressed in an outfit akin to what she always wears, but it's new and just slightly more colorful, a gift Leia managed to round up. Her usual cropped pants and tunic are soft earth-tones, brown and cream respectively, but the crossing wraps over her upper body are deep green, and her arm wraps are also new, also a dark brown. Her hair is down except a small part captured in a clip with the rest softly curled, also by Leia, who had made Rey roll her eyes when she wove a few tiny flowers, the same yellow ones that Poe had given her outside, into the clip.

When Leia brought Rey's new clothes to their quarters, she also handed Rey a package for Poe, new pants, shirt, and vest in tones that compliment Rey's clothes. Only Leia could find a way to so diplomatically get them dressed nicely without pushing Rey from her comfort zone. It's also practical, in that the clothes are just additions to their limited wardrobes.

The entire base turned out for the party with the exception of the skeleton crew on duty in command. That group will be rotated out shortly, with a group leaving the party in a while in order to take over. The party isn't raucous as some Resistance parties can be – it's not subdued, exactly; instead, it's quiet and joyful, a group of survivors and new faces blending together behind a common cause and giving everyone something to celebrate but also to acknowledge those not there.

The first toast of the evening had been to all the souls lost between the D'Qar evacuation through their escape from Crait, with Luke Skywalker, Paige Tico, and Admiral Holdo toasted by name. Poe had been the one to suggest the tribute, and Rey had agreed easily. Some, Poe heard, complained about the sad topic at an otherwise happy occasion, but Leia steadfastly backed them up.

They'd toasted with various types of alcohol, including Poe's requested Corellian Rum, all sent courtesy of Maz Kanata, the only outsider invited. She chats quietly with Leia and Kes at the side of the group, BB-8 at their feet, his metal shining bright from the polishing C-3PO insisted on giving him prior to the wedding. BB-8 will be staying with Kes for the next few days.

There is soft music playing, and Rey takes Poe's hand the way he taught her as they practiced in their quarters the last few nights, allowing him to gently lead her around the dance floor. There was no ceremonial first dance or anything elaborate besides the toasts, though those, in addition to the memorials, did include gentle and not-so-gentle ribbing in speeches from the general, Kes, and Finn, the latter two speeches replete with heckling from the general and Maz.

The ceremony itself had been short and to the point, just traditional Yavinese vows officiated by Leia. Poe now wears a ring that matches Rey's and his mother's, both of those worn on Rey's left hand. She drops her head to his shoulder, nuzzling her face into his neck. Softly, she says, "I love you, Poe Dameron."

He turns his head to drop a light kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, too, Rey Dameron." She, of course, had taken his name, given that she had no last name of her own.

"Thank you for tonight. This was perfect, Flyboy." She lifts her head to look up at him. "I do wish Luke and Han were here, though."

He nods. "My mom, too."

"Leia told me earlier that no one is ever really gone. I like to think that maybe they were all here watching, you know? Maybe even my parents, no matter how little I mattered to them." She drops her eyes.

He can't say much in answer to that, but he tugs her closer to him. She releases his hand and presses herself to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Eventually, he replies, "You matter to a lot of people now, you know?"

She tightens her arms. "I do know. And it's everything."

They continue to dance as the party moves on around them, the crowd begins to thin. Poe notices that friends and family have all disappeared, and he leans down near Rey's ear. "Let's get out of here, Beautiful."

They aren't going anywhere – it's simply not that safe right now – but they both have three days of leave, and they plan to hide out in their quarters the entire time. She peers around, surprised to see that almost everyone is gone. She looks up at him. "Can we go outside first? I want to go look at the stars."

"Anything, Beautiful." He takes her hand and gently guides her towards the door. When they get outside, they stay near the base, because they don't want to risk being greeted by local wildlife in the grassy field. Once they close the door behind them and he manually turns off the light over the door, they're blanketed in darkness. They both look up at the sky, and he gets behind her, pressing himself to her. He wraps his arms around her waist and perches his chin on her shoulder. "Thank you for marrying me, my Beautiful Jedi."

She rests her hands on his arms, tracing his ring with her fingertips. "Thank you for marrying me, my brave Flyboy."

He chuckles and turns his head to press a kiss to her temple. "I'd do it again a thousand times, Beautiful."

"Me too." She looks up at the stars. "When the war is over, I want to see a lot of those, you know?"

"I do. But can we make a home, too?" He thinks of the house where he grew up.

"On Yavin 4, close to Dad." She agrees immediately. "Can we build something near his house?"

Poe goes warm all over at her request. She can clearly feel it, as she squeezes his hand. It takes him a moment to swallow back some emotion. "I think he'd love that. I know I would."

"It's my home now too, Flyboy. When we're ready for children, we need to be where he is, don't you think?" She's a little nervous to ask, afraid that he might've changed his mind about wanting children.

He hears her concern. "Two. Maybe three. Like I said before, our little Jedipilots. They'll be a handful, but Dad'll be the best grandpa in history."

She grins at that. "I know. I cannot wait to watch him with little ones." She turns in his arms, smiling at him. "Speaking of," she leers at him, running her hands slowly up his arms, "We should go in and practice a bit, don't you think?"

His hands slide down her back, hovering indecently low. He leans in, kissing her like he's wanted to kiss her since they shared a sweet, chaste kiss at the end of the wedding vows. It's the opposite of that kiss, deep and demanding and full of promising heat. After enough time passes to leave them both breathless, he pulls back. He drops his lips to her neck, and between kisses there he mumbles, "Well, practice does make perfect."

She laughs, taking both of his hands in hers and pulling him towards the door. She arches an eyebrow. "Glad you think so, Flyboy, because given my preferred plans for the next three days, we should likely achieve perfection about halfway through day two."

He lets her pull him as he laughs. "And what will we have left to practice for then, Beautiful?"

"Nothing," she leers again, "Then we can just have fun. Lots and lots of fun."

"You're the boss, Beautiful." She's going to be the death of him, but he approves of it as a way to go.

That thought is confirmed when she grins impishly. "Oh, can we try that once we get to the fun day?"


End file.
